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In the season of cricketing setbacks, a old war dog has an interesting take on things Indian and British. Lt Gen J F R Jacob, who scripted the surrender of Pakistan in the 1971 war, has sent an email to his friends and colleagues that suggests that since India is not performing well in cricket, perhaps the time has come to invite them for a game of ‘goolie danda’. “Perhaps we should challenge the Brits to goolie danda. The Brits call it ‘tip cat’,” writes Jacob, who signs off the email as a “former goolie danda player”.

Paradoxical Position

WHILE the official line of the Samajwadi Party is an almost militant opposition to the proposed legislation to allow quotas to SCs/STs in promotions in government jobs, it is caught in an unenviable position on the issue. It has the largest chunk of MPs from constituencies reserved for SCs in Uttar Pradesh — 10 out of 17. Convincing them to oppose the Bill, which is being seen as a huge sop to the SC/ST community, is likely to require a Herculean effort from the top leadership of the party. The BSP, which is pushing strongly for the Bill, has only two of SC seats from UP. However, in the Rajya Sabha, where the Bill is to be introduced and the initial battle fought, the Samajwadi Party has no SC MP.

Advisory Role

THE government did not deem it fit to give him a one-year extension, but cannot seem to do without him either. Former CRPF director general K Vijay Kumar, it is learnt, is being engaged by the Home Ministry as an advisor in its Naxal management division. Vijay Kumar, who retired earlier this year, was tipped to get an extension but the government was not willing to grant him more than three months at one go. Vijay Kumar, on the other hand, thought that he needed at least one year to make his stint effective. He finally retired as scheduled, but his expertise and operational skills in fighting Maoists is still in demand.

Secret Locations

IT is interesting that General V K Singh and Anna Hazare — two self-styled exponents of transparency — always seem to meet in secrecy. The first rendezvous happened late at night on September 19 after Hazare’s acrimonious breakup with Team Kejriwal. At that time, Hazare is believed to have met Ramdev and Singh at the